"Boxing was not the sport I thought it was due to all the politics." -Gerry Cooney
"Here, it says to take one every 6 hours."
Santana had come back with Brittany's prescription and a couple of bags of groceries. When Brittany had raised her eyebrows at the food, Santana rolled her eyes. "You offered me breakfast in bed and brought out Frosted Flakes...and now you can't exactly run down to the store so easily, so I figured I'd get you some supplies."
Brittany would have been offended that Santana teased her about the Frosted Flakes if she hadn't been so smitten with the fact that Santana had bought her groceries. She bit back her smile when Santana handed her a pill and a glass of water, eyeing her curiously.
"Wait, give me another one," Brittany took the glass and the pill but looked for the bottle. Santana frowned.
"It said only one -"
"I'm making up for the fact that I didn't have one yesterday," Brittany grinned cheekily, watching Santana expectantly. Her years of boxing had led her to know her body incredibly well, and she knew one pill wasn't going to cut it. Santana shook her head.
"I'm not helping you overdose on pain meds," Santana crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow. Brittany got the sense that people didn't challenge Santana often.
"Don't make me get them myself," she whined, pulling her covers off of herself as if to get out of bed. Santana just stood watching her, calling her bluff, but her temperament faltered at the grimace Brittany wore as she sat up, apparently determined to get another pill. Brittany was just about to push herself off the bed when Santana broke.
"No, no, okay fine, jeez, you win," she shook her head at Brittany who was wearing a triumphant yet pained grin. "Just lie back down, please, and I'll get you another pill, okay? Druggie?"
Brittany nodded and slid back into her bed as Santana left the room and came back with another pill. She gave it to Brittany who took the other one in her hand, sitting up slightly. She tossed both pills in her mouth and chugged them down with water. Santana took the glass from her as she laid back down and pulled the covers over herself.
"Thanks," she smiled at Santana.
"You're welcome, I guess." Santana said begrudgingly as she sat on the edge of the bed. Brittany took her hand, stroking the back of it soothingly.
"Aw c'mon, I'm used to painkillers! Don't you think if I was going to become addicted, it would have happened already?"
Santana didn't seem to find that any more comforting and wrinkled her brow. Brittany only smiled again and tugged Santana towards her. Santana was careful to press herself against Brittany's good side, and did even that tenderly. Brittany wasn't sure if the drugs were kicking in that quickly or if it was the woman next to her but she felt incredibly happy for someone who had just had the shit beaten out of her. She ran a hand over Santana's hair, enjoying the way Santana snuggled closer. They lay there for a few minutes in comfortable quiet before Santana's phone rang.
She sat up to answer it, and turned slightly away from Brittany as she spoke into the phone. Brittany watched her back, the way her shoulder blades poked at her shirt as she hunched over.
"Hey baby," Santana said into the phone, trying to keep her voice low.
Brittany frowned, picturing Ricky's smug face on the other line.
"Uh huh, no no, I'm just out running errands, doing some shopping," Santana continued into the phone.
Brittany closed her eyes and sunk deeper into her bed. Her contentedness had vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. She was jealous, she knew that. Jealous that Santana had someone else that called her, wondering where she was. Jealous that she was not the first and only person to call Santana, to worry about her. Brittany was pissed it was Ricky Betto, scum of the earth and Santana didn't even know the half of it. She was tired of this weird triangle that they'd formed. She was not usually a secretive person. She was simple, open, relatively friendly. Again she found herself wondering how her life had gotten so damn complicated.
Santana gave a few more "uh huh"s and "yeah"s before hitting the end button. She turned back to Brittany, her lips pursed.
"I've gotta go," she said quietly.
A million questions rushed to Brittany's lips, but she knew better than to ask any of them. Instead she nodded slowly, not really looking at Santana.
"I'll come back as soon as I can, okay?"
Brittany hated how helpless she felt. Stuck in her apartment, waiting for a woman who was not truly hers to come back to her after spending time with her boyfriend. The boyfriend who had had her mauled the night before. Santana sighed and leaned forward but hesitated. Brittany watched her chew her lip before quickly leaning all the way forward to kiss her. It was a quick kiss, but it settled Brittany's stomach slightly, like Santana knew how much this sucked, too.
"Try and get some rest," Santana commanded gently before standing up and leaving Brittany's room.
Brittany adjusted herself under the covers as she listened to Santana collect her things in the living room. Then the front door opened and closed, the lock turning after, leaving her to stew in solitary silence. She noticed her side wasn't killing her as much as it had been. Whether it was because she wasn't moving or because she had taken two pills instead of one, she couldn't tell, but she welcomed the sleepy wave that enveloped her. Brittany pulled the blanket up to her chin and let herself fall into a hazy sleep.
The clock in her room read 6 pm when Brittany was startled awake. She sat up abruptly, causing a sharp pain to tear through her side.
"Fuck!" she hissed as she clutched at her stomach with one hand while rubbing the sleep from her eyes with the other. She felt like she had woken up from a year-long nap. Maybe I'll stick with one pill next time, she thought groggily.
There was a loud knock on her front door which she assumed was what woke her in the first place. Brittany got out of bed slowly and gingerly pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. She hated how she'd become nearly immobile because of her injuries.
She made her way to the door, wondering who it was. Santana had her spare, and her mother had the other. Thinking of her mother sent a different pang of pain through her body. She hadn't talked to her mother or sister since before the match. She didn't want to scare them, but she also felt like she should let them know, somehow. She pushed the thought aside and opened the door.
Jack Donally stood solemnly in front of her, wearing his standard black suit with pale white stripes. Brittany opened her mouth but nothing came out.
"So you going to let me in or stand there catching flies?" Donally asked coolly, raising an eyebrow.
Brittany stepped back into her apartment, motioning for Jack to come in. Shit.
Donally walked in and turned around in Brittany's living room. She closed the door quickly and faced him. She decided to let him speak first. Donally looked around for a second before his eyes fell on Brittany.
"Where were you today?"
Brittany had known she wasn't going to get away with not showing at the gym. She would have called in to try and explain if she hadn't been passed out cold for most of the day. Now she scrambled for words.
"I was going to call and let you know, I -"
Donally held up a hand and shook his head. "Save it Pierce, you're a terrible liar. It's been a nice change a pace from most of the guys I've had come through my gym, so I'm going to save you the trouble of even trying."
Brittany gulped.
"I know what's going on," Donally's stare was hard but not angry. "Well, I figured it the second your match got changed to Gonzaga only a few days before the scheduled date."
"You - you...?" Brittany wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry, or both. Relief crashed over her like a soothing wave on a hot day. She realized she was shaking and put a hand on the kitchen counter to steady herself. Someone knew. She was sure she was still in big fucking trouble, but someone else knew. Donally watched her closely. He was quiet and Brittany realized he was waiting for her to say something coherent.
"I'm sorry, I can explain, it -"
Donally cut her off again, which she was thankful for. "You were supposed to lose last night, weren't you?"
Brittany nodded, looking at the floor. Hot tears stung the corners of her eyes. Her relief was marred by guilt.
"Betto probably wasn't so thrilled when you kicked Gonzaga's ass, was he?" Donally continued. He was looking at her swollen cheek, which was a dark shade of purple and blue. Brittany shook her head. Finally she looked back up at Donally. She was surprised at how soft his features appeared. "What happened last night?"
He was leading her so easily Brittany wondered just how much he knew, and how.
"A guy - he had two guys beat the crap out of me, basically," Brittany finished lamely, her mind flashing back to the park the night before.
Donally whistled lowly. Brittany waited for him to ask why she didn't fight back, but he didn't. "What's the damage?"
"Two fractured ribs and major bruising on my back. And cheek, as you can see," she pointed to her face.
"Did you see a doctor?"
"Uh," Brittany paused. She didn't want Santana involved any more than she already was. "Yeah, already taken care of. I even got painkillers," Brittany wiggled her eyebrows, hoping to move Donally away from the subject of the doctor.
Donally rolled his eyes. "Good," he shifted his weight around before sighing. Brittany could tell he was thinking hard. "Alright, just, hang tight for me, okay?" He looked at her, somewhat exasperated. She nodded and shrugged.
"As in, don't leave your apartment much, don't tell anyone else about this, and don't go looking for Betto, whatever you do," he warned sternly. "I'm looking further into the matter, so just try and get better quickly, okay? I don't need you getting fat and out of shape because of this shit," He shook his head and moved towards the door.
Brittany resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She couldn't believe how well Donally was handling this. She had no idea just how much he knew, but he seemed pretty well-informed. She wondered if stuff like this had happened before. It must have, you can't be the first idiot to get caught up in something like this, she scolded herself.
"Hey, Jack," Brittany touched his broad shoulder gently. He turned to look at her, his hand already on the door. "Thank you," she said. He just sighed again and nodded before he pulled the door open and left.
Brittany sank back against the counter, processing what just happened. Someone knew. And not just someone, a big someone. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her. Her mind fell to Wes. Did he know? What'd Donally tell him? Or had he been the one to tell Donally she wasn't at the gym? Brittany felt guilt wash over her again. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and felt her stomach rumble. She realized she hadn't eaten all day.
Standing in front of her fridge Brittany saw that Santana had bought her some basic raw ingredients, but she laughed at the prepackaged dinners that were sitting in her freezer. She pulled some cheesy-veggie-dish from the freezer and unwrapped it before popping it into the microwave.
While her dinner turned in the microwave, Brittany found the bottle of painkillers and picked two pills out before deciding to stick with one this time around. She still felt groggy from the two she took earlier that day. She gulped the pill down without water just as the microwave beeped.
Brittany sat down to eat her dinner and her mind raced, her hyper thoughts clearing the cobwebs the painkillers had left. Now that she knew she had to lay low, she wanted to do nothing more than just the opposite. The restlessness that already twitched in her was begging to be acted on. She knew she really couldn't though, and it frustrated her even more.
After she finished she reclined in her seat, wincing and sitting up again after pain flared in her back. The quiet of her apartment was interrupted with another knock on the door. Now what? Brittany ran her tongue over her teeth as she got up.
She moved to the door slowly, wondering when her apartment became a train station. When you went and got yourself trapped here with two fractured ribs and a relatively powerful man somewhere out there who wants you in pain, a voice chided in the back of her mind. Brittany opened the door and her eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Two police officers stood in her hallway. They were dressed in street clothes but Brittany's eyes caught the badges clipped to their belts. Well this is a first, Brittany thought, caught somewhere between amused and worried.
"Hello officers, ah, how can I help you?"
"Brittany Pierce?" The female officer asked. Brittany nodded.
"I'm Detective Sawyer, and this is my partner, Detective Luden. Can you step outside with us for a second?"
Brittany shrugged and stepped out into the hallway, leaving her door partially opened behind her. Maybe they're here about last night? Brittany wondered. But how would they know anything? She was about to ask what was going on but before she could get a word out the male officer grabbed her wrist and turned her sharply around.
"Ow, hey!" Brittany's eyes widened at the abrupt turn of events. She felt cool metal lock around her wrist as the detective pulled her other arm behind her back to lock in the other handcuff.
"Brittany Pierce, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit fraud. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights?"
This can't be happening. This has to be a joke. Brittany felt herself break into a cold sweat. She was being arrested...for conspiracy to commit fraud? This had to be a prank. Unless this had to do with Ricky. This has everything to do with Ricky, you idiot, a voice hissed in the back of her mind. The metal around her wrists felt cold and yet it seemed to scald her skin.
"Do you understand?" The male officer repeated.
Brittany cleared her throat. "Y-yes," she croaked, her mouth suddenly bone dry. The officer steered her towards the elevator. He had his hand on her arm, guiding her on one side while his partner walked on her other side.
"Wait!" Brittany cried, losing the fight against the hysteria that bubbled in her chest. "Can you at least close my fucking door?" She hadn't meant to curse. Could that be used against her in court? She couldn't afford an attorney. Was she going to get some shitty state-appointed attorney? Her mind churned out questions faster than she could process them.
The female officer shot her partner a look before turning back to close Brittany's door. They continued walking towards the elevator and Brittany frantically searched her mind for anything to make this stop - anything to get out of these handcuffs and back into her apartment. Anything to rewind the past five minutes that felt like an eternity and the blink of an eye at once.
She flexed her hands and felt the cold handcuffs rub against her skin. The quiet clink of the chain between each cuff around her wrists taunted her. The male detective, Luden, was it? pushed the down button on the elevator. She wished they'd speak at least - the silence made everything worse.
The three of them rode down the elevator and crossed the small lobby out onto the street. Brittany thanked whatever higher powers above that none of her neighbors were out and about. She gulped as the detectives led her towards the police car parked across the street. Under different circumstances, Brittany would have been excited to ride in a cop cruiser. But now, as the male officer dipped her head gently while guiding her into the backseat, she would have done anything to be anywhere else.
Brittany looked back out the window at her apartment building, watching it disappear from view as the car pulled away from the curb and sped down the street.
